occasionally bombarding the headquarters in an irregular manner

February 20, 2014

instant success and easy fortune

Here's a great article about the prosperity gospel China style, where every tycoon has a buddhist monk or nun on tap, with Tibetans being especially fashionable. And it's not just tycoons and Buddhists either: it's Communists and Feng Shui masters.

Publicly, the CCP remains resolutely atheist; internally, however, religious affiliation among members is growing. According to a 2007 report by the Chinese Academy of Governance, 52 percent of county-level civil servants admitted to a belief in either divination, face reading, astrology or dream interpretation – practices officially deemed as “superstition” by the Party.

While the exact reasons behind such beliefs vary, many new adherents find themselves drawn by vague promises of instant success and easy fortune. After converting to Buddhism, former Tai’an municipal Party Secretary Hu Jianxue was told by a feng shui master in Shandong that he was destined to become China’s new deputy premier – the only condition was that Hu “lacked a bridge,” state media reported in 1995.

Hu interpreted the remarks literally, ordering subordinates to change the proposed path of a new national road to ensure that the route passed over a river, thus creating the opportunity to construct a new bridge. Unfortunately, Hu’s new bridge did not lead to a place on China’s Standing Committee; instead he was given a suspended death sentence for his role in a separate bribery case.

'Deputy Premier'...'suspended death sentence'. A mistake anyone could make.